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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

5 Tips for Styling Your Shelves

I am no expert, but after styling and re-styling, and then re-styling again, I feel that I have become pretty good at styling my built-in bookshelves in our front office.

At first, they were just holders of books, DVDs and other random things, but they just looked so messy and the styling was not cohesive to the other pieces in the room. I must of re-arranged them at least 4 times before I got them the way they are now.

I think that it was so important for me to get the styling right, because they are so beautifully made and have so much more potential than to just be used for storing things. I knew that there was a way for them to be functional yet still pretty to look at. It was also important to me, for them to stand out, because they are one of the first things people see when they walk into our house.

Here are a few photos of what the shelves looked like before the transformation.....

Ugh, I can't stand looking at them. Look at all of those ugly DVDs! I am so glad I moved them out of view!

There is just too much going on. Too many colors!

You can see I tried to style them a little but it just wasn't working!

And here is what they look like after.....

Here are my 5 tips for styling your bookshelves:

1. Think outside the box. They don't have to be just for books and you don't have to stack the books in the traditional way either. I turned my books around so that you see the pages not the spine. Think of all the different things out there today that are not being used for what they were originally intended. I also added a few baskets to store things in, such as pens or bills that need to be paid. Remember, you can have them look pretty and still be functional.

2. Start Fresh. Take everything off of the shelves and start fresh. I went through all of my stuff that I had on my shelves and decided if I really needed to keep it out or if I could find another spot for it somewhere else. I also went through all of my books and made piles. I got rid of a lot that I know I will never read again. I kept some of the really nice older ones to use for styling, and the books that I refer back to often, I grouped them all together.

3. Decorate your Shelves. I went around my house to find some nice photos and other framed art that I could place on the shelves. I also found some fake plants and a few other nice personal items. This could be anything that has meaning to you. We have a really nice clock that was gifted to us by my husband's best friend. We never really had a place for it until we moved into our new house. Now we do! I also have some items from our wedding that I had stored in boxes because I wasn't sure what to do with it before. Now I can actually display them and they become pieces that tell part of our story.

4. Forget about Symmetry. When I say this, I simply mean don't worry if things don't look a certain way. You will probably arrange things a couple times before you get it the way you want it. I put one big decor piece in the middle shelving unit as a focal point and then everything else I just staggered according to each individual shelf. You want to mix things up a bit though when styling each shelf. Try not too have all of one thing (i.e. books, plants, photos) on a shelf. For example I put a few books and a plant on one shelf and then a few more books, at the opposite end, and some pictures, on another. (See the photos above for how I styled the different shelves).

5. There is no wrong way. I always include this as part of my decorating tips/advice. You need to have fun with it. If you are getting frustrated, walk away for a little and come back to it. It can be overwhelming but it shouldn't be something that makes you so frustrated that you give up. Decorating should be fun. You are creating your nest/space to enjoy and to share with others there really is no wrong way of doing it. Just keep mixing things up until you can step back and say, "That's it"!